Impact Evaluation and Quantitative Population-Based Surveys for USAID/Mali's Feed the Future (FTF) Cereal Value Chain (CVC) Activity

The project began on March 7, 2014, and is scheduled to end on March 7, 2019. The project's primary objective is to provide information and data to support future programmatic decisions and meet Mali's FTF reporting requirements. To achieve this, the project will undertake an impact evaluation of the CVC Activity and conduct population-based surveys for indicators within the FTF initiative in Mali. The project will capture the value of USAID's investment in the CVC Activity and provide insights into the effectiveness of the program. The project is being implemented by IOS Partners, Inc., with subcontractors including Cultural Practice LLC, IOD PARC, CARI-SARL, and AFAR-TCT. The major counterpart organization is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Mali. The project's geographic coverage is limited to Bamako, Mali. During the reporting period of July 2014 to September 2014, the project made significant progress in implementing its activities. The project team conducted a progress narrative, which highlighted the key activities completed during the reporting period. These activities included the completion of statistically representative population-based surveys and the submission of deliverables to USAID/Mali. The project also faced implementation challenges, including the need to address potential challenges and mitigate solutions. The project team identified several potential challenges, including the need to ensure the accuracy of data and the need to address issues related to the implementation of the CVC Activity. In terms of integration of cross-cutting issues and USAID forward priorities, the project team made progress in addressing gender equality and female empowerment, local capacity development, and science, technology, and innovation impacts. The project team also engaged with stakeholders, including the Government of Mali and the CVC Activity implementer, ACDI/VOCA. The project's management and administrative issues were also addressed during the reporting period. The project team submitted a final report on the population-based surveys training, which included training materials and a data entry table. The project team also submitted a field control report and a questionnaire archive. Overall, the project made significant progress during the reporting period, and the project team is on track to meet its objectives. The project's findings, interpretations, and conclusions are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the United States Agency for International Development.